Thursday, March 09, 2006

Play that Kinky music

No, not Kinky Friedman. I'm talking about the Kinks, the bestest band what ever was. According to this article, they've suddenly become the darlings of the ad biz, even with songs that were never hits:

Sixteen years after they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and 23 years after their last top 10 hit ("Come Dancing"), the Kinks are in the spotlight again -- thanks to a number of TV spots that feature their distinctive pop music.

A couple of weeks ago, the British band's top 10 hit from 1964, "All Day and All of the Night," helped launch a new Tide campaign. In the coming weeks, the group's "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" and "Everybody's Gonna Be Happy" will be heard in spots for IBM and Abbott Labs, respectively.

Additional licensing opportunities for the Kinks' music are in the works, says Kenny Ochoa, VP of film/TV licensing at Sanctuary Records Group, which represents the group.

Even though many of the songs used were not big U.S. hits, Ochoa credits this "Kinks renaissance" to the timelessness of the band's music, which has influenced many of today's rock bands.

He says an additional credit must go to Hewlett-Packard, which licensed the Kinks' "Picture Book" for an award-winning 2004 campaign.

"When spots work, they really work," Ochoa says. "The music and visuals drove that spot -- it was a perfect marriage."

"Picture Book" has always been a song I enjoy. It was never even released as a single, but has a goofy, loopy charm, and is a good example of Ray's music hall-inspired writings. Of course, the flip side of that one is "People Take Pictures of Each Other," which is almost as bouncy a beat, but far more cynical in outlook. Some may look down on the Kinks for selling out, but as they control almost none of their early catalog, I look at it as the band getting some exposure they richly deserve.